Jill Rockwell

About Jill Rockwell

Jill has over 13 years of experience as a licensed teacher in the areas of Special Education, Reading Education, and Health Education. She embraces diversity and has worked with students in grades K-12 in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California.

Jill completed her Master of Science degree at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls while teaching full time. She fully understands the soaring demands of today’s teachers. Her courses are designed to maximize the time of all educators by providing engaging, meaningful, and applicable activities which can be used to enhance teaching practices. She focuses on research-based best practices and technology integration throughout her own instructional practices.

Together with her husband and two young boys, Jill enjoys traveling, biking and the changing seasons of the great outdoors in Wisconsin.

Trauma, Stress, and Anxiety in Schools: Finding Hope and Building Resilience

Poverty, suicide, abuse, divorce, and community violence are some of the many traumatic, yet common, life experiences and events students of today’s society face. In addition, factors including social media and high stakes testing have been linked to the increasing rates of stress and anxiety among youth. This insightful course provides practical applications on how to understand, connect with, and accommodate students and their families experiencing the adverse effects of trauma, stress, and anxiety.
Participants will research the short and long-term outcomes associated with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), learn how to incorporate effective trauma-informed practices, and build relationships with students and their families based on respect, trust, and empathy. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), stress management, suicide prevention awareness, students living in poverty, and educational procedures used to respond to traumatic events are additional topics accentuated in this course.
Finally, educators will focus on their own well-being and discover ways to strengthen resilience and manage stress and anxiety associated with the soaring demands of the profession. Course participants will become better equipped to effectively respond to students’ complex needs.

ADHD: Teaching and Learning Strategies

Course participants will gain a deep understanding of the impact attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has on the performance of students in the classroom. Research-based instructional strategies and behavior management strategies will be explored, along with methods to improve executive function skills. The implementation of appropriate accommodations, modifications, and interventions will also be highlighted. This course engages participants with meaningful, applicable, and practical activities with a focus on success for students with ADHD.

Executive Function and Creating Effective Learning Assessments

This course is designed to teach participants the importance of metacognition, provide background knowledge of the core executive function processes, and help apply their knowledge of executive function processes to help students better understand themselves as learners. Participants will learn how executive functioning skills are the cognitive powers that help develop good habits which leads to effective school and life management.
The course will also look at the process of how to create effective assessments. Assessments are essential to the learning process, as evidenced in that assessments inform the instructor on the effectiveness of their instruction, as well as they provide a way to measure students' mastery of the course's educational learning targets. The course will explore how to identify course goals for assessment, determine test structure and design, write effective questions, and apply a variety of testing methods to differentiate testing methods.

Trauma, Stress, and Anxiety in Schools: Finding Hope and Building Resilience

Poverty, suicide, abuse, divorce, and community violence are some of the many traumatic, yet common, life experiences and events students of today’s society face. In addition, factors including social media and high stakes testing have been linked to the increasing rates of stress and anxiety among youth. This insightful course provides practical applications on how to understand, connect with, and accommodate students and their families experiencing the adverse effects of trauma, stress, and anxiety.
Participants will research the short and long-term outcomes associated with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), learn how to incorporate effective trauma-informed practices, and build relationships with students and their families based on respect, trust, and empathy. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), stress management, suicide prevention awareness, students living in poverty, and educational procedures used to respond to traumatic events are additional topics accentuated in this course.
Finally, educators will focus on their own well-being and discover ways to strengthen resilience and manage stress and anxiety associated with the soaring demands of the profession. Course participants will become better equipped to effectively respond to students’ complex needs.

Social and Emotional Learning: Promoting Positive Mental Health Across the Curriculum

With the soaring concerns of mental health issues, students need to be supported more than ever with their social and emotional development. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) involves teaching and modeling five lifelong skills: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills. In this course, participants will learn how to weave SEL into the curriculum, which has been shown to increase academic outcomes and promote overall positive mental health among students. Participants will also explore strategies to support and enhance their own mental health and well-being.

The Growth Mindset and Appreciative Inquiry: Getting the Best from Your Students and Getting Them to Believe in Themselves

This course will educate participants on the difference of a fixed or growth mindset, and how Appreciative Inquiry (AI) can cultivate the classroom environment into a place of risk taking and success. Participants will learn about their own mindset and how it impacts students, as well as techniques for evaluating the growth mindset, strategies for reframing failures to successes, and devising lesson plans with the growth mindset in mind. Participants will also learn about Appreciative Inquiry and how it is among the growing trend of approaches to human development and organizational change. Focus on the power of positive question and imagery, sharing stories, and implementation of Dr. David Cooperrider’s 4-D cycle will be reviewed, along with implementation strategies. Participants will leave the course understanding how to create a dynamic classroom that fosters growth and compassion; that will create bonds with students to push them further and increase test scores.

Introduction to Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has been recognized as a critical factor in students' success in school and beyond. SEL involves five essential components including: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills. Through readings, videos, personal reflection, and online forum questions, participants will explore each of these components and learn how SEL and academics go hand-in-hand. Participants will leave the course with resources and strategies designed to support the social and emotional learning needs of students.

Social and Emotional Learning: Promoting Positive Mental Health Across the Curriculum

With the soaring concerns of mental health issues, students need to be supported more than ever with their social and emotional development. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) involves teaching and modeling five lifelong skills: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills. In this course, participants will learn how to weave SEL into the curriculum, which has been shown to increase academic outcomes and promote overall positive mental health among students. Participants will also explore strategies to support and enhance their own mental health and well-being.